Poll: Economic optimism climbs

The vast majority of Americans still believe the economy is in bad shape, but a new poll has found that economic optimism has shot up since last year.

Six in 10 of those surveyed in a CNN/ORC International poll said they believe the economy will be doing well by 2013 — a significant rise from the 39 percent who said the same thing last October.

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But despite this optimism, the majority of Americans, 73 percent, still believe the country’s economic conditions remain poor.

Voters are evenly split on whether President Barack Obama or Mitt Romney would do a better job of handling the economy, with 48 percent picking the president and 47 percent choosing the former Massachusetts governor. But independent voters believe Romney is superior to the president when it comes to fixing the economy, 52 percent to 41 percent.

On who would be better at tackling the federal deficit, Romney also has a notable lead over the president, 52 percent to 42 percent.

Meanwhile, 53 percent of Americans believe the president would be a better leader than Romney on foreign policy. When it comes to illegal immigration, 49 percent said the Republican nominee would better handle the issue, compared to 46 percent who said Obama would be superior.

The CNN/ORC International poll was conducted June 28-July 1 among 1,517 Americans and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.